Elevator guide



Get. 17, 1933. w. J. OCONNELL 1,931,237

ELEVATOR GUIDE Filed May 10. 1929 INYENTOR ha/fer f Ufa/me ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 17, 19 33 twi l r 1,931,237 ELEVATOR GUIDE Walter J. OConnell, rarest N. Y. Application May 10,1929. Serial No; 361,895

My invention relates to improvements in elevator guides. v

Its object is to provide a novel form of guide which'will hold an elevator car more securely in desired position and which will increase the steadiness of a running elevator car, especially one of thehigh speed passenger type."

Another object is to:provide a structure which will facilitate the operation of lubrication The most important object of this invention-is, how

ever, to increase the safety of the elevator by providing a guide from which the car cannot separate and by providing a structure with which an ordinary car safety. device. will engage more effectively thanhas been possible with previous constructions. v

These and other objects will appear from the following specification in .which I,wil1 describe the invention, the specific'features of whichI will point out in appended claims.

Referring to the drawing, 1

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an I Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of a portionof.

a guide rail and its contacting shoe, together with a portion of a car safety device of known construction. The section in this figure is taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 but drawn on a somewhat larger scale;

Fig. 6 is an elevation, partly in section, of the parts which are shown in Fig. 5, the section being taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; v a Fig. 7 is a sectional plan view of the guide rail and its contacting shoe taken on the line 7- 7;of

Fig. 4; and fi r Fig. 8is a plan view of a safety device especially'adapted to cooperate with my improved guide rail. i v r In the drawing, the guide rail shown comprises in every case, a'base or flange 10 by means of'which it is secured to the. building or structure in which the elevator car runs. The guide rail projects from-this: base orflange, preferably from the center thereof, in the usual manner,

55. but with oppositely flaring finished surfaces 1ll1.' In -every 7 a third bearing surface which, in the preferred form, as shown in Fig. 1, isa concave surface 12.

A somewhat similar'depressedbearingfface may be formed as shown in Fig. 2, with two converging flat surfaces 12A or, if desired, the third bearing face may be a flat surface as shownat 12B'in Fig.3.- H *The frame of the elevator. car shown 4 is designated by 20. It comprises the usual parts,

which need not be enumeratedyexcept to point out that 'the cross head 21' is suspended from cables 22 which are securedtoa plate 23, or the ends of said cables are enlarged as shown so that they cannot be pulled upwardlythrough the plate 23; Springs 2424areinterposed between the formof the invention there is i N plate '23 and the cross head 21. "25 is a bell crank lever pivotally mounted upon the cross head and connected 'by su'itable linkageswith the'plate 23 and therods 26 which extend "down to and are conne'ctedwith the car safety device.

It may be seen that theparts thus' briefly de-j scribed areso arranged that if the cables; 22 break or become slack for any reason. therods 26 will be raised bythe actionof'the springs 24 through theparts which havebeen pointed out. I 27 is arope or cable which' extends to a speed governor device and which is arranged to with the car at normal speedsbutwhich will be arrested automatically if the car attains an ab normal speed. When this governor rope'is thusarrested it will cause thefrqds 26 to be raised through the linkage shown atf 28 As this too is a well known construction and pperatiom t is only referred to somewhat briefly," J The elevator car is provid d" with suitable shoes which run over the three faces of'my improved guide rail. One of such'shoes is 'shownat 30 in Figs. 5 and 6. In this 'case a'part'ofthe shoe is cutaway to form "an inclined-recess 3 1, inwhich is placed a friction roller 32. The lowerend of the rods 26 extend under these friction rollers j 32, as at 29, it being understood" that there is one such arrangement at each side of the car. This arrangement forms what I have called an elevator safety device and is one of many well known types of safeties, but as the safety-device per seforms no'part of the present invention, it will not be described further. except in connection withtlie description of the operation'of the invention. The elevator shoe 30 above the "safety device is shown somewhat in detail in Figf'l. :33 is a pad which 1 ment so that it may be replaced when worn. 3434 are side pads which are pressed inwardly by means of springs 35 against the flat faces 11 of the guide rail. One or more of these spring pressed pads may be used, as desired.

The operation is as follows: In the first place, when the surface 12 or 12A is concaved, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, that part of the car shoes 30 which runs on :this face of the guide rail will suffice to hold the-car in proper alinement. Furthermore, because of this peculiar shape of this running face of the guide rails, its lubrication is facilitated. This feature is especially useful in connection with high speed cars, as they are sufliciently guided with a minimum of bearing surfaces and with efficient lubrication. r

But the same shoes 30 are provided as has been shown with surfaces which bear upon the surfaces 11, which, because of their flaring -rela-' tion, effectively prevent removal of the shoe from the guide :rail. This feature, of course, adds greatly to the safety of the operation of the car andlis operative even when the outer running face isga .planesurface, as shown at 1213 in Fig. 3. Furthermore, any tendency of the car to pull the shoeaway from vtheguide has the effect of center- I ing -.the -car won :the guide. Consequently, if the guide rail is provided with a concave face, any

pressure of ,the cartoward or away from the guide rail tends tocenter the car.

,A greatadvantage of the use of this novel form of elevator guide rail is that when an element of a .-.car safety ,device is applied to any one of the three running facesof the guide rail, the car will be securely locked to all .three running faces of the guide rail. .For example, if a type of car safety devicesuch as that which is shown in Figs. 5 and 6 isemployed, and the friction roller 32 is raised hythe rod26, .itwill; upon running between F the inclined face of .therecessill, becomewedged between this faceof .therecess, which is a .part of the shoe 30,,andone-of the running faces 11 of the .guide rail. -This will .cause the opposite face of the shoe tobe pulled intoengagement with the utherrunningface ll of theguiderail and because of the inclined relationof .these-tworunning faces 11,;tlie partef theshoe 30 which engages .the face 12 of ,the ,guiderail will also be forced into tight contact therewith. Thus the shoe will become lockedto vth'eguide-rail by engagement with all three .of the.runningisurfaces-of the latter. 4,

The safety deviceshowninFig. 8 is especially designed .to cooperate with the improved guide rail .disclosedlherein. 45 .isa shaft arranged to 1 be rotated in the usual .manner when conditions require the application of .thesafetydevice, "to move member-44 away from the guide rail. This member .44 .has :inclined sides which are thus drawn-betweemthe ends-43 of pivoted levers, forcing them apart. aQn theotherends of these .levers are, pads-.42 which, by the aforesaid -operation,

are --forced=int o locking-engagement with the in' clined faces ll of the guide rail. As this may have a tendencyto pllHthB guide-railaway from itssupporting structure, the arrangement shown may .-be;.provided.

.41, is'a third pad,-preferably of bronze, adapted to coactiwith the :widened :face 12 of .the guide rail. This :pad :is'ion a cross-bar 40 which -:is drawnby springs 46 toward arms 47 projecting laterally from the-pivoted arms '43. 48 are provided, by means of whichthe space between the-pad 4 1 and'the face of the guide rail Set-screws.

guide shoe whenever the safety device is actuated.

It will be seen that by flaring thesurfaces 11, the surface which is adjacent the car will have maximum width per weight of rail, and that concaving this widened face centralizes the car, eliminates wear on the side surfaces, and provides a groove for lubricant. This invention is intended primarily for use with elevator installations, for the car guides or for the counterweight guides, or for both, but is doubtless useful for other purposes.

What I claim is:

.1. A guide rail having a wide transverse concaved front face and two side faces inwardly converging therefrom said front face being arranged to-center a; member slidably mounted on the rail.

2. A guide rail having a wide transverse inwardlycurvedfront face and two side faces inwardlycon-verging therefrom said front face being arranged to center a member slidably mountverse concaved face adjacent the car :and two flat facesinwardly converging therefronLand .a shoe on the car having surfaces adapted toslide over the three faces of said guide rail, the surface of said ,shoe whichslides over the {concaved surface of the guide rail :being of convex form to ;fit said concaved face to center the canon the rail.

=4. In an elevator installation, thecombination with a car of a guide 'railihaving' a (wide transverse inwardly "curved front face adjacent the car and two flat faces inwardly converging-therefrom, and a shoe on the car having surfaces adapted to slide over the threefaces ofsaid guide rail, the surface of said shoe which slides over the inwardly curved surface of the guide rail being outwardly curved to cooperate therewith. 5. In an elevator installation, the combination with a car of a guide rail having 'aiwide transverse inwardly .curved front face adjacent the car and two flat faces inwardly converging therefrom and a shoe on the car having surfaces adapted to slide over the three faces of said rail being outwardly curved to cooperate .therewith, and'acar safety device adapted itoeffect an engagement of the surfaces of the guidetrail.

'6. In an elevator installatiomthecombination with a car of a guide rail havinga wide transverse concave front face adjacent the car and two side faces inwardly converging therefrom, :a shoe on the car having a convex pad adapted to slide over said front face of the guide rail to center thecar on the rail and separate side pads adapt- .center the car on the rail and separate side pads adapted 'to slide over the side faces of "the guide rail, and springs pressing said side pads against the rail.

8. In an elevator installation, the combination with a-car of a guide rail having a wide transverse :concaved front face adjacent the car and rail, and means for forcing two of themembers I against the side faces of therail and causing the pressure thereof 'to force the third member against the front face of the rail;

WALTER J. o'commm. I 

